Tears of gold
by GoldandBelle4evr
Summary: Belle's been shot, her memory gone, and Gold/Rumpelstiltskin left to try and put her back together and bring their love back... please review
1. Chapter 1

Gold had never been so terrified in his life. His darling Belle was now in surgery over him. He never should have brought her with him. He should have left her at the shop, used the potion, then gone back to say goodbye. It never should have happened like this. He needed his Belle. He needed his love.

Nothing felt worse than having to sit in the waiting room a wait for word of his beloved's condition. He wanted to storm into the operating room and hold her hand as they worked on her. Alas, he could not, so he was stuck here, sitting right beside the door, waiting for any word on her progress. He couldn't seem to get her words out of his head. _Who's Belle?_ He needed to fix this. He would do anything to get her back. If it meant making a deal with the devil herself, he would do it. All he wanted was his love back in his arms, warm, safe, full of love, full of joy, and never feeling any pain.

_Who's Belle?_

Those words hung over him like the plague. In all his years as the Dark One, losing his son, his wife, learning she had thrown herself from a tower, losing the cup to her no good father, everything he'd done in his life had filled him with pain, but none so much as this did.

Belle.

His sweet, innocent Belle. Beautiful, kind, sweet, joyful, loving, and dearest Belle; he feared he would never have her back. _No!_ He mustn't think that way. He would find a way, there has to be a way. He needed her back.

If he couldn't, life was not worth living.

The doors beside him swung open and Dr. Whale walked out of the restricted hallway and scanned the waiting room, clearly never seeing Mr. Gold. HE jumped up faster than his leg would like of him. "Dr. Whale,"

Dr. Whale turned to him with a small smile for Gold. "Mr. Gold, Belle's going to be fine." Gold felt a wave of relief wash over him, his legs gave out and he fell back into the chair. She was going to be fine, it wasn't possible for her to gain her memories, but it was a good start to keep his mind in one place.

"Thank god." He breathed, his head was spinning, he never thought he could be so happy in this type of situation.

"The bullet missed all major arteries, caused no major damage. It didn't go through the shoulder, which made it a little trickier, but other than that, she's in perfect health." He hesitated, seeming to struggle to find words to go on. "As for her memory…." He trailed off. Gold closed his eyes and tried to fight the tears that threatened to fall. "She doesn't remember anything about home, she's curious as to why she's out of the asylum, a little frightened, and she wants to know who 'Belle' is." Gold stopped fighting. The tears fell freely. His sweet Belle; his sweet, innocent, beauty. Why did this have to happen to her? "Mr. Gold, she wants to see you."

Gold was back up in an instant. "She does? What does she know about me?"

Dr. Whale shook his head. "Nothing. She wants to thank you for saving her, and I suggest you let her. Perhaps if you spend some time together, some of her memories will return to her or she'll feel comforted by having someone to care for her."

Gold nodded. A million things were going through his mind, if he kissed her maybe that would work, no, she's been through a lot, best not to push her. "Her father, I want him kept out for a while. He's tried to poison her against me when she had her memories, without them… well, I don't want to think about that. Please, can you do this for me?"

Dr. Whale hesitated, and then slowly nodded. "I can try, she doesn't know him in her mind, and so a stranger coming in to see her could upset her more. Do you want to go see her?" Gold nodded his head and slowly started walking down the hall with Dr. Whale.

Belle.

Belle.

Belle.

He needed to see her, so badly. But he had to be able to restrain the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her to death. He would have to be careful with her, protect her. He couldn't risk Hook coming back for her, and if he got his hands on that no good stinking pirate, he was going to rip him to pieces and feed them to Archie's dog. Pongo would surely enjoy the snack.

Pongo. He remembered Belle's face when he had first brought Pongo into his shop to extract his memories. He'd been searching for a dog since, seeing how it made Belle look when he interacted with the dog. He had hoped it would make Belle happy, and when he left to go look for Bae, he would leave the dog with her, another reason to come back, to comfort her that he would truly come back for her. But now, if he couldn't get her memories back, he didn't know if he could ever come back to this town.

Belle, why did this have to happen to you? If only he could go back in time and change this, crossing back over the line to drive her home, quickly wrapped the shawl around Belle as she fell to the ground, saving her memories, pushing her back so she wouldn't fall over the line, anything to change the way the night had turned out.

He stopped walking as they approached Belle's room, where he turned to Dr. Whale. "What does she believe her name is?" He asks quietly, in the smallest of whispers.

Dr. Whale placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze, offering comfort to him. "Sarah, Sarah Walsh." And with that he left, leaving Gold standing beside the door, his hand on the handle and slowly pushing the door open to see his love.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

She truly did not know him. When he entered the room, she was lying still on the bed, looking out the window attached to her small, quiet room. She said nothing, her gaze didn't seem to move from the one spot she seemed so focused on. Gold felt his heart dying inside him. He wanted to grab hold of her and kiss her, thankful she was well, but he knew that it would scare her, and possibly get him thrown out.

"B-Sarah," He stuttered over her thought name. Sarah didn't suit her. It had no joy, no cleverness, and no beauty. Nothing like Belle truly was. "Dr. Whale said you would like to see me." The statement was as short as he could muster. Anything more and he would have broken down in front of her, he could see the changes in her already. There was no light in her eyes; she seemed almost trapped in these walls. Gold knew she had no place she thought of as home to go to when she was released from the hospital, maybe, if he played his cards right, she would come and stay with him, and he could slowly start building her memories back up.

Belle seemed distant, almost not alive. She didn't move, didn't speak, if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, he would have called a nurse in to assist. "Sarah?" Gold moved to sit on her bed, just one hip, his leg still sat on the floor, his cane in hand, Bae's shawl in his jacket; he sat and waited for her to respond.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, and yet she said nothing. It was like staring at a painting. Gold couldn't help but reach up and stroke her cheek with the back of his hand, stroking it over and over, silently praying he could, somehow, bring her back to him. "Dearie?" He whispered.

Belle jumped, her body jackknifed up into a sitting position as her eyes roamed the room franticly. Finally, they settled on Mr. Gold. She recognized him. He had brought her to the hospital, he had called her that name, what was it, Brittney, Brianna? No, Belle. It was Belle. Who was Belle, why did he confuse her with this other woman? So many questions formed in her mind, but she decided to start out with a simple greeting. "I'm sorry, I must have been thinking. I'm Sarah." She hesitantly reached out her hand to him, the smallest of smiles on her face, if he had not been looking for one, he would not have seen it.

"Hello, Sarah, my name is Mr. Gold." Touching her hand felt like flames, begging him to pull her closer to him, to hold her close and never let her go. But, alas, he could not.

"Mr. Gold." She seemed to be soaking the words on her tongue as she spoke them. She had a look on her face that read clear as day. She didn't think the name suited him. She was probably running through names that would suit him better in her head right now. "I wanted t-thank you for bringing me to the hospital, though I don't know how I left here in the first place." The way she talked was different. It wasn't the same as before, not as sweet, teasing, innocent. It was harsh, quick, to the point, there was no Belle left inside her.

It seemed as if his Belle was lost.

_Stop it!_ He screamed at himself, _this is your Belle, she's in there somewhere, and you just have to find a way to bring her out. _With that in mind, Gold was very cautious with his next words, making sure not to offend or cause any type of hurt. "Sarah, do you know why you were in here in the first place?" His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, he was so close to tears he wanted to stop fighting it and let them fall, but he wouldn't. That would only confuse her, make her anxious. He didn't want to do that to his Belle, he wanted to bring back her smile, her laugh, just to bring back_ her_ and hold her close to him.

He would find a way to do it.

"Yes, I had delusions, thinking I was some fairy tale person from some other world, my father finally couldn't take my delusions anymore so he had me committed to the asylum. I was there since I was nine." Gold couldn't describe half of the emotions running through him right now. Despair, love, sadness, hope, love, anger, and a need for revenge. Hook had better be dead.

"Nine? Y-you were barely a child." He was in horror, what kind of twisted game had Regina played with his sweet girl's mind? He could see it in her eyes; she thought she was truly crazy. How could he convince her otherwise?

Belle shrugged her shoulders. "It was what was best for me, I guess. My father made the choice and I'll stand by it and him."

Gold could feel his blood boiling. Yes, revenge would feel very good right about now. "Dearie, do you remember why you got shot?" He tried to keep him voice level , a hard task to do when he was bottling up his tears.

Belle simply shook her head. "No, I have no idea why someone would shoot me, unless I was going after them…" Her voice trailed off, as if she was truly thinking she had hurt someone.

"No, dear, no. You didn't go after anyone, I promise you." Belle simply stared out her window, pain filling her gaze.

"Oh, I meant to ask you, who's-" He voice tailed off again as someone walked by their door, and Gold got a clear look at who it was.

Hook.

It all happened very quickly, no sooner had Hook come into view than did Belle push herself as far back into her bed as possible, and began to scream bloody murder.

The same look that was in Gold's eyes matched Belle's scream.

Cold. Hard. Murder.


	3. Chapter 3

Gold didn't know what he wanted to do more, go after Hook and bash his head into a million pieces, or go to Belle and hold her close and try to comfort her. In the end, his love for Belle won over his hatred for Hook, he moved to the bed shushed her sweetly, enclosing her into his arms. Like she had when her memories came to her, she buried herself into him, digging her face into his neck, sobbing quietly, slow tears trickled down her face and into Gold's suit.

He rubbed her back, murmuring soothing words to her, as he would a young child. He couldn't imagine what went through her mind as that man walked past that door. Perhaps memories of being shot fled through her mind, maybe the memory of a gun being pressed into her skull, he couldn't even fancy a guess, all that mattered to him was that he could sooth her.

Slowly, in time, her tears began to fade, her breathing became more even, and she was able to pull out of his arms, much to his discomfort. He wanted to continue to hold her, but he wouldn't hold her against her will in his arms. He had more class than that. "It's alright, Dearie, it's alright." Belle smiled sadly at him, her eyes were screaming with fear. Poor Belle, one thing his magic couldn't do in this realm was change emotions, and it was all he wanted to do right now, take away that pain. "Sarah, do you know why you are so afraid of that man?"

Belle's eyes widened further, and as she nodded her head, Gold could see her pain worsen. It was killing him inside to watch her suffer like this and be able to do nothing about it. "H-he shot me. I don't know how I know this, but I do. I can hear his voice, screaming at me, him putting something to my forehead, a-a gun!" She was shivering, shaking so violently that Gold couldn't resist the need to put his arm around her and rub her arms slowly. "I-I can hear his voice in my head, saying words that I don't even understand, as if it's in another language, and I can't stand it!" Her words were in soft whispers now, barely audible to him. "I really am crazy." She stated, looking down at her hands. Gold hadn't noticed the blood on them, and he hated seeing it on his sweet Belle.

He stood up and stepped into the bathroom, looking around; he found a wash cloth, which he ran under warm water for a few moments until the water took over the rag. He came back into the room to see Belle was exactly as he'd left her, curled up around herself in the corner of the bed, her eyes meeting his in what seemed like desperation. He sat back down on the bed with her and took one of her small hands in his, gently washing the dried blood from her fingers, as if it never happened.

He did the same with the other one, smiling down at her; he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "There you are, dear. All clean." He threw the wash cloth onto a nearby chair and placed a gentle finger under her chin, lifting her head up to look at him. "And you're not crazy, Dearie, just confused. You've had a traumatic time, you need time to heal. That's what you're going to do here. And when you're done healing here, we'll find you a new place to heal, weather at your room in the library, or Granny's bored house, or even my guestroom. But no matter what happens, Dearie, you will be safe from that man." He pressed his lips to her forehead again and surrounded her with his arms. "That I can promise you."

Belle smiled up at him. For her, this seemed natural, though she didn't know why, as far as she knew, she didn't really know this man. But, having him comfort her did make her feel a lot better. It felt good. "Thank you, Mr. Gold." Slowly, she pulled out of his arms, as much as she didn't want to, she needed to. She had no choice, if she wanted to talk with him seriously, she couldn't do it with her lips pressed in his chest. "You seem to know a lot about me, but I don't remember knowing you at all, why is that?"

Gold froze. Uh-oh, he hadn't thought something up for this, he had to improvise. "I knew your father, once, he told me about you. And while you were out of the hospital you ran the library, I like to venture there on my lunch breaks and find a good book to read. We sometimes chatted." Not bad for a quick response. He hoped she bought it, until he could introduce Belle to her true self.

Belle nodded, accepting his words. Gold felt relief wash over him. He opened his mouth to say something else when a knock on the door drew there attention away from each other. Dr. Whale stood in the doorway, a serious look on his face. "Mr. Gold, I'm sure Ms. Marshal enjoyed your visit, but I'm afraid she needs to rest. You can come back tomorrow." With that he left them alone to say goodbye.

"Well," Gold breathed out, frustrated by the intrusion. "It seems I must be going." He stood from the bed and reached for his cane, leaning into it a lot more than normal, sitting up on that bed was not the best thing for his knee.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" She asked him, quick frightened like, as if she was afraid of Hook would find her.

"If you'll have me, Sarah, I'd be honored. Get some rest, I'll be by tomorrow."

Limping quite more than normal, Gold made his way from the hospital, a happy smile on his face. Perhaps turning Sarah back into Belle wouldn't be as hard as he had originally thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah was bored. She felt like she was going crazy again in this room, she had nothing to do except go through these tiny pieces of her brain that felt like memories, but could have easily just been part of her delusion. She couldn't get them out of her head. Mr. Gold somehow had a way to keep completely content and her mind in one run, and now that he had left, she felt her mind seemingly juggling the truth in her head. She had these images that kept flashing in from of her face, she was hugging someone, and they were saying in a soft words "_yes, and I love you too_" She wished she knew if that was really a memory or just one of her delusions again. She seemed to be having a hard time telling reality from not.

Mr. Gold had left hours ago; she had slept, if it could be called that. She tossed, she turned, she tried every way to find a spot that was comfortable to sleep in, but nothing worked. In the end she had just slept with her head against the wall, looking out the window for Mr. Gold to return. She wanted someone to talk with; everyone in this hospital scared her. Dr. Whale had told her the man who shot her was handcuffed to a bed on the other side of the hospital. But he was on the same floor, it scared her. She wanted to leave, to go home.

Wherever home was; the only memory she truly had was of her being in the asylum in the basement, and there was no chance of her returning to that living hell. Mr. Gold had said something about her running a library in town, and some apartment inside. She did have a home, yet why couldn't she remember it. It felt as if her mind had a very large hole inside it, she could feel the blank space. If she tried to push into it, a sudden, painful headache would overtake her, causing her to need rest. She wished Mr. Gold was here, she wanted him to come back.

She closed her eyes, resting her head on the pillow, she tried to let sleep take her over, but the moment she closed her eyes she saw the barrel of a gun being pressed into her forehead, pure terror running through her as she looked into the eyes of the man Mr. Gold had addressed as 'Hook'. He frightened her, terrified her. She could see herself running, trying desperately to escape him as he swung his metal hook at her, catching the back of her dress and….

"Belle, wake up! Wake up, Dearie, wake up!" A voice jerked her out of her terrible nightmare, causing her to jump up where she laid on the bed, a death scream filling the room, her arms quickly grabbed onto Gold's forearms, her nails digging in deep to his skin. Pure terror was all that could be seen in her eyes. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she blessed her dear savior for waking her from that hell. "Dearie, are you alright?" Gold ran one of his hands down her cheek brushing away any tears that fell. Belle slowly nodded her head; her breathing was jagged, uneven, and barely audible. Gold placed himself beside her on the bed, his arm wrapped gently around her shoulders as she tried to get her breathing under control. "Bad dream?"

Belle nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She turned her head into Gold's silt shirt and tried desperately to calm the tears that fell from her eyes, willing herself to stop, grown women do not cry. "It's alright to cry, dear, nightmares can scare anyone into tears." It was as if he'd read her mind. They stayed that way for a good amount of time, Belle slowly getting back to her controlled self. "There you go, feel better?" He rubbed her shoulder, smiling down at her.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Gold. I feel much better." Belle continued to lean into Mr. Gold, it felt better for him to be back, and she felt safe, cared for, and happy.

"Care to tell me what the dream was about?" He whispered sweetly, his lips at her forehead.

"I-it was about Hook, about being attacked by him." She shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I-I don't feel safe here, I feel like I'm being watched, and not in a good way. I feel afraid." Belle shivered in his arms. Gold hated seeing her like this, she was his on true love, and he wanted her to come back to him.

"Tell you what, Dearie, how about I go and talk to Dr. Whale and see about getting you released into my care. You can come and stay in my guest room till you feel safe enough to go back home. This way, I can keep an eye on you, you don't have to feel so scared, and Hook will never know where you are."

Belle's eyes were full of wonders. Her heart lifted and she grasped onto Gold as hard as she could, nothing would feel safer for her than the man whom had saved her from Hook in the first place. She didn't know why, but she trusted, possibly more than she should, but there was something pulling her towards him, urging her to trust in him, let him take care of her. Her wound was healing nicely, and she knew he'd be a gentleman, he'd been nothing by to her, and she wouldn't mind having company with her throughout the day. It seemed like a win-win. "That sounds lovely, Mr. Gold, thank you. I would love to leave this room; they don't even give you anything to read. I've been going crazy in here."

Gold couldn't help but smile. Of course, Belle wouldn't be happy unless a book was involved. A book, Henry's book, maybe if he gave it to Belle to read it would bring back some of her memories, anything. Though he doubted Emma would be so kind as to help, Henry was quiet fond of Belle, and Gold was sure he'd help him. "Well alright then. I'll go speak with Dr. Whale now, and in a little while you can be soaking in a nice warm bath, get all the hospital smell off of you." Belle smiled and unlatched herself from Gold, allowing him to leave the room and go find Dr. Whale. He was getting close. He could feel his Belle rising to the surface. He was going to get her out of the shell she was in.

No matter the cost.


	5. Chapter 5

Belle walked around her house as if it was completely natural to her. Gold couldn't help but smile, it was the same reaction she had when she had first walked through his home. But the way she simply flowed through the room, as if it was second nature to her, walking through the rooms, no, not walking, flowing through the room, touching the old books, the finely upholstered couches, she truly belonged here.

Her face was filled with wonder as she walked into the room he had created specifically for her. The library, after the curse had broken, he'd cast a spell to bring as many books that would fit in the room into this library. She'd spent days here, and even when she went to live in the library, she'd still come by when a book had been requested that she didn't have. Gold smiled to himself, he'd planted Henry's book in the room for her to find and read, hoping it could bring back any type of memory about her life, about _them_. But he didn't keep his hopes up. Till then, he was working to find any type of magical solution for this problem. Belle was already going through the books, and they hadn't even finished going through the rest of the house.

"Dearie, would you like me to show you to your room? Then you could have a nice warm bath." Belle's eyes lit up. She most likely couldn't remember when he had brought her here before; she had idolized his bath tub. Spent an hour in it, just soaking, enjoying the warmth. He knew that was just what she needed now. She could unwind, calm herself, and Gold could work on getting her memories back to her. He gestured to the stairs and Belle eagerly skipped over to them. She danced up the stairs, waiting patiently for Gold to climb up them. Stairs were really not something that Gold was a quick one at. His knee created very difficult pulls on his injury. By the time he walked up them, all he wanted to do was soak it ice for an hour.

Belle waited for him. Something about her face told him she was thinking, the way she bit on one corner of her lip, her hands folded gently in front of her, how she slowly rocked herself from side to side. Gold couldn't help but smile at the ground; She was such a lovely woman, so pretty, so innocent, so sweet. He wished he could hold her again, he wished she was herself. He had to work fast to find a cure for this new curse.

Regina.

She'd know something; she's created this new curse, not him. He'd made sure of it, when the first curse was broken, he'd added a clause ensuring he and whomever he wanted could leave this place. At first, he wasn't going to take anyone, and then Belle had come along into his life and he'd known he would take Belle with him.

Finally, he reached the top of the stairs, and the strangest thing happened. Belle smiled at him, a sweet, heart breaking smile. Gold could feel his heart just breaking in his chest. That smile, the same one she'd given him when she'd seen he still had that chipped cup. He couldn't help but smile back at her, when all he wanted to do was reach out and grab her. He inclined his arm towards the guest room, just to his left. Belle tilted her head up at him and walked towards the room, her eyes smiling at him even as she opened the door and took a step inside.

He'd designed this room with her in mind when Emma had come to town, a constant reminder of who she was, what she was, to him. The bedding was blue, the wallpaper a simple rose pattern, bookshelves filled with books. It was very much a Belle room. He'd put a few of her outfits in the dressers. "I went by your apartment in the library and picked up a couple of outfits for you to wear; as well as some pajamas, your toothbrush, and other things that you may require." He opened the bathroom door to his left and showed her in. "There's bubble bath, shampoo, conditioner, anything you need." He exited the bathroom and moved for the door. "My," He paused, caught up in her reaction to the room. Her face was as bright as day, she was smelling some of the flowers he'd placed in the room, roses, lilies, and a few others she'd claimed were her favorites. He'd done everything he could to give her something to help her memory be triggered. "My room in just across the hall, if you ever need anything."

Belle nodded and slowly walked over to him. "Thank you, Mr. Gold, for helping me with all this. Not many people would help just some random girl released from the asylum so easily." She grinned at him, though he could feel the sadness of her statement. She hated that asylum, he knew it. She'd been trapped there for twenty-eight years.

Thank to him.

"I put some towels in the bathroom, why don't you have yourself a bath? I need to run out for a few moments, but I'll be back in a little while, and I'll bring you and I something to eat." Belle nodded at him and moved for the bathroom. Gold closed her door and moved slowly back down the stairs, and towards the front door. He was going to have a nice, long chat with the formal queen. He had a few questions that she was going to answer, and if she didn't, well he was stronger than her, and he was angry. Anger is a powerful trigger to assist power.

Keys in hand, he moved for his car, unlocked it and got in. As he backed out of the driveway, he thought he saw Belle in the window, but by the time he got a good look, she was gone, and he was off, heading for the one place that would bring him any comfort that came with the answers he truly wanted to give Belle her memory back and him his love back.

Regina's house.


	6. Chapter 6

Gold was cautious as he drove up to the sheriff's office, usually, he walked wherever he went, but seeing the way his Belle was today, he needed time to think, drive around, clear his head, and get his thoughts straight before he went to face the evil woman locked in the cell. He pulled his car up into the parking lot, turned it off and just sat there. He hadn't taken his time to mourn over what had happened to him and his sweet, sweet Belle. If Regina couldn't help him, well she'd just be useless. And he'd kill her.

No. He couldn't, he'd promised Belle he wouldn't. Even if she had no memory of that promise, he was sure she wouldn't like it if she'd come back to him to find out he'd broken the one thing he'd promised her. He wouldn't do that.

But that didn't mean he couldn't hurt her a little.

Gold smiled and got out of his car, moving for the entrance of the police department. Ms. Swan was with her boy Henry today, and Prince Charming was at the hospital with the John Doe would rolled into town, almost hitting Belle in the process. He could have lost her for a second time, then.

Regina was sitting on a cot, a newspaper in her hand, reading intently. Gold could clearly see the front page, Belle. Her picture; She was being raised into the ambulance, tears falling down her face. Gold felt his resolve shake momentarily. But he wouldn't forget why he was here, he needed answers. "Rumpel, didn't expect to see you here, come to gloat?" She laughed at him, knowing very well why he was here. "Oh, come now, Rumpel, don't pout. Perhaps it's best Belle lost her sad memories, maybe it'll give the two of you a new start." Again she laughed. She laughed at him. Gold smiled at her and snapped his fingers. Within half a second, he was inside her cell, his hand around her throat. The queen gaged, tried to push him off. Stupid woman.

"You're lucky I made that promise with Belle, Your Majesty, or I would've killed you already. But when I do find a way to give Belle back what she's lost, and believe me, I will, I'd rather not have her upset with me. Now, I'm going to let go of you and your going to answer my questions. Understood?" Regina made a moaning noise; Gold took that as a yes. "Good, let's start."

He released her and flashed out of the cell, sitting on the ugly blue couch and held his cane out in front of him, pure murder ran from his eyes. "Determined one, aren't you, Mr. Gold?" Regina chuckled and rubbed her throat. "But I'm nothing if not flexible. What do you want to know?"

"When I created that curse, I made sure I could leave after it was broken. This," He waved around him. "Was not supposed to happen. I want to know how you did it, and how to fix it." Regina gave him a look that spoke wonders. She knew what to do. It was all about getting it out of her know.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Perhaps you screwed up."

Gold smashed his cane against her knee through the bars. She screamed in pain. "I've told you before, Dearie, that you are a dreadful liar, Regina. Now answer me. How do I fix this?" Gold stood, power radiated from him.

Regina moved to sit down, cradling her knee in her arms. "I added a clause, in case it was broken, so our secret would never get out. With the blood of my father's heart I made sure we'd be all safe." She laughed. "If you want her memories back, it's not possible. I ensured it that way."

Gold watched her carefully. "You're lying, Regina. Would you like me to break your leg next? Answer me honestly, dear, or you won't be walking for a very long time." Regina's eyes widened as she looked down at her cane.

"Fine, Mr. Gold, I'll give you some leads, though I truly don't know the actual way. Try the well. I'm sure you can create some sort of potion to capture her memories in the water and have her drink it. Of course, it would take time, but it is possible." Gold smiled at her and stood from his spot.

"Thank you, Regina." He turned away, starting to walk out. "Oh, one more thing." He turned back to her, an evil look on his face. "Deceive me again, dear, and you'll have more than your leg to worry about. I only promised Belle I wouldn't kill you, I said nothing about hurting you." He flashed in front of her cell. "So stay out of my way Regina." He leaned in close. "_Please._"

With that, he left her, knowing the venom was back in his voice, more so than ever. Regina knew better than try to trick him, and he would get her for this one, but first, he had to help Belle. He wanted her back.

Belle; why did this have to happen to his sweet Belle? Why couldn't he have stopped it? But how could he? He'd gone over the scene in his head a thousand times, and there was no way to change what happened quickly enough. He had to live with his choice, or at least learn to accept he did what he did for a reason, and nothing would change that. He had to move on, help Belle, find his son, and get home.

Home; home sounded good right about now. He would go home and see his beautiful Belle and let it go for a few hours, and then he would get to work on creating this potion. He didn't know how long he had before Hook sought him out, and he had to make sure his Belle was protected at all costs.


	7. Chapter 7

Belle let her gaze roam over the shelves of books in her view. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of them, all types of genres, titles, authors, and many from different eras. She hadn't noticed Gold standing in the doorway, the same place he'd been for the last ten minutes, just watching her with a smile on his face. She was so mesmerized by these books. So much so that when her eyes travelled over him, she didn't even seem to notice. He'd seen her pick up book by book, read the back and place it back, looking for just the right one.

His eyes travelled to Henry's book he'd placed randomly in the room. She was getting very close to it; he just hoped it helped her become herself.

Finally, he took a step into the room, making himself known to her. "As much as I love to watch your eyes choose which book to read first, I brought back some burger's from 'Granny's' and they're getting cold." Belle jumped, dropping the book that was in her hand, her hand going to her heart with a light laugh. "I'm sorry, Dearie, did I frighten you?" He took another step into the room.

Belle shook her head, a smile forming on her lips. "No, not scare, startle, perhaps." She picked up the book and put it back in its slot and walked over to him. "Lead the way."

They made their way to the dining room where he'd laid out the food. Belle's eyes widened at the spread, he remembered her asking him about the hamburgers before, so he thought it would be a nice treat for her. He got fries, shakes, and a salad, in case she wanted healthy instead. Belle sat down in one of the chairs, Gold sat in the one across from her, and they separated the food.

"Did you see any books you like?" Gold asked her casually, picking up a fry to eat it.

Belle nodded her answers, taking a large bite of her burger, moaning in pleasure. Gold laughed quietly. So much like herself, yet so different. It was always fun to watch her eat, she made funny faces, sounds, and she seemed different.

His Belle, yet so different, she didn't suit the name Sarah, it wasn't her. She was a Belle, a beauty, and he was a beast. Maybe he could change for her in this time, it might bring something good out of all this.

Maybe.

They continued chatting mindlessly, over things that seemed simple to most, but for Gold it made him feel like he had his sweet back. Smiling at him, teasing him, and just being her normal self. "So Mr. Gold, what do you do?"

"I'm a pawn broker, but I'm also a certified lawyer. I make a lot of deals with people in town, rental agreements, loans, things like that. It's an easy life."

Belle made a face at him. "Rental agreements? How many buildings do you have for you to rent them out?" Belle took another bite of her food.

Wow, tough question. Gold paused to think about it. The curse had given him most of the town's buildings for his control, which made close to… a thousand places. Some mailed the rent to him, others he went to collect such as the nuns or Granny's. "Well, Dearie, to my most immediate memory, I believe it's close to a thousand buildings, give or take a few." Belle's jaw dropped.

"A-a thousand? How in the world were you able to collect all of them?"

He had to remember the life the curse had provided for him. "Some I inherited from my father, others people took out loans with their houses as collateral, and they couldn't pay up. And some I purchased." Another bite of the food was taken between them before either one of them spoke again.

"Do you own the library?" Belle asked. Gold smiled.

"No, the town does. I'm a donator to keep it running so you could buy things like new books, computers, things like that."

"So I run the library?"

"Yes, it's something you seem to love to do. You've always been fascinated with books. When I found out, I made some inquires to get you the key to run it. The library has been closed for several years." Gold stood and started to clean up some of the dishes. Belle copied him and cleared her spot, following him into the kitchen.

Belle placed her dishes in the sink and turned back to him. "Don't you ever get lonely? I would assume most people in town aren't very happy with you being the town's owner, and I haven't seen one picture of other people around." She was a very observant person, his Belle. No one had really noticed that about him in the past.

Gold began to load the dish washer while Belle leaned against the counter, waiting for his response. He didn't really know how to react to the question. She'd been his source of comfort for the last little while, her memory, and before that it was the hope of finding his son. He didn't really have friends in this town, or anywhere. The more he thought about it, the more it hit him. He'd spent the last twenty-eight years being hated here, and he couldn't count how many before that. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe.

"Mr. Gold?" Belle touched his shoulder. Gold hadn't realized he stopped moving, he was just standing there, staring off into space. He gave himself a mental shake and turned back to his task. "I think you just answered my question." She smiled at him and moved to leave the room, as she passed Gold held out his free arm to catch her around the waist.

"It can be lonely, yes. But memories are one of the most powerful cures to loneliness, Sarah. You just need to know how to channel them into your life." He released her and hobbled out of the room. He needed to find a way to bring his Belle back, not be reminded of all the pain he'd caused to his own life. He wanted to do two things, find Baelfire, and bring Belle back. Hopefully not in that order, but he had to work for either of these plans to work.

He went to the basement and sat down at his wheel and started spinning. If he wanted to give Belle her memories back, then he had to find the magic that would work perfectly with it. He needed to think, to forget, to release the pain he was feeling right now, get rid of his sorrows, and the only way he knew to do that was to sit at the wheel and spin.

After all, he was Rumpelstiltskin, if he could so anything right it was spin straw into gold.

He just hoped it would work for all his sorrows today.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the short chapter, I'm cramming for exams but don't worry, I'll update a really good chapter soon.

She dropped it! How could she have done this? How could she have dropped it?

Sarah franticly tried to pick up the pieces to the cup. Mr. Gold had said it was very important to him, the memory of one he lost, and then she dropped it. All she had wanted to do was clean it, it was dusty and she thought it might make Mr. Gold happy to see it clean and beautiful, and then she'd stumped her toe on the chair and dropped the cup! How could she possibly explain this to him? He was going to be anger, upset, oh god; she didn't mean to do this. She felt horrible. Here she was, a guest in his home afraid to go to her own, and she breaks his most precious object.

The tears started to flow. She felt so horrid, anger with herself. She was enjoying her time her, read so many amazing books, had wonderful conversations with Mr. Gold and now it was all ruined. He'd be home from the shop soon and she had to explain to him what happened. No doubt she'd break down and cry. Right now it was all she was doing; she'd given up trying to gather the pieces and just sat on the floor and bawled. She felt like she'd committed a murder, it so important to him; she'd seen the way he looked at it, the way his face would soften as he touched it, and now she'd gone and destroyed it.

Sarah looked at the door, she could hear him. Oh no, he couldn't come home yet, not yet, she needed to fix this.

The door opened slowly…


	9. Chapter 9

Okay guys, this is going to be the only chapter for a while, till the next episode comes out. I want to follow the story a bit more as it goes on. Once its back, I'll do some more. Till then, please read the other stories I put out and give me your thought. ;)

Gold held Belle close to him as she cried. His poor Belle; she'd thought he was going to be angry over the cup, and he wasn't. Upset, maybe, but not mad. The cup was nothing to how having his beauty here in his arms felt. That was more to him.

He rocked her slowly in his arms, soothing her, hushing her, trying to get her to calm herself. She was so upset. The minute he walked in the door she'd started to bawl and apologize to him for what happened. His Belle couldn't help but be upset, it was in her nature. "Belle, dearie, calm down."

But Belle just cried and cried and cried. Gold could help but feel hopeless.


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone, so unfortunately, the show went off in a different way than I had hoped and I can't find a way to keep the show in tune with my fanfic, so I think I'm going to end it here. I may pick it up again when Gold comes back into town. Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you will read some of my other stories.


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